Woman says hardship forced her to throw her one-day-old baby into soak-away

Illustrative Photo of Soakaway

A mother of six from Guru village in outskirt of Bauchi, Bauchi State has thrown her one-day-old baby into a sewage shortly after delivery.

Juliana James, an indigene of Shendan Local Government Area of Plateau State told newsmen when she was being paraded by the police that hardship forced her to do away with the child.

The accused who lives with her husband James and her six children- five girls and a boy in a one room apartment – claimed that things were so rough for her family that she decided that the way out was to sacrifice the new born.

“Things are hard. My husband has no job. He had an accident three months ago he is still in the hospital ago and the situation became worse for us. We don’t see food to eat. We were dying of starvation.

“I delivered at home and threw the baby in the toilet because I don’t know how we are going to take care of it. I didn’t tell my husband”, she narrate regretfully.

The baby girl was rescued alive and taken to the Abubakar Tafawa University Teaching hospital where she is currently receiving medical attention.

A source told Sun that Juliana seemed to be depressed due to hardship.

“She was a hardworking mother and House wife who fried kwosai (bean-cake in the neighborhood but foe some time now during her pregnancy she had not been coming out. May be the recession took it’s toll on her,” the source who pleaded anonymity said.

Juliana was subsequently arrested by the police and is currently being remanded at the police station.

The Commissioner of police Zaki Ahmed who paraded the suspect for child abandonment along with other suspects, said the case was being investigated while the rescued baby was be handled to social welfare officials after she has been certified healthy.